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Ferenc Karinthy was born in Budapest, the second son of celebrated Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy. He wrote his first novel, Don Juan éjszakája (Don Juan's night) in 1943 while studying literature and linguistics at Pázmány Péter University. In 1945 he was awarded a PhD in linguistics.

Epepe, written in 1970, is the first of Karinthy's novels to be translated into English, appearing as Metropole in 2008.[3]

This essentially Kafkaesque tale follows the travails of Budai, a linguist who steps off a plane expecting to be in Helsinki but finds himself in a sprawling and densely populated metropolis whose residents speak an unknown and unintelligible language. Budai is swept along with the crowd to a hotel, where he tries in vain to explain his predicament.

With no route home apparent, Budai spends his days trying to learn what he can about the city and the language but is frustrated at every turn. The only person with whom he has any kind of relationship is Epepe, who operates the lift in his hotel. But even she can't help when Budai's money runs out and his situation becomes ever more desperate.